Scottish Executive

Architecture

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to implement its policy on architecture; what further steps will be taken to implement the policy, and what funding has been allocated for this purpose.

Mr Frank McAveety: Significant progress has been made in delivering our policy on architecture. The Executive provides £300,000 annually to The Lighthouse to deliver a national programme of activities to raise awareness of the benefits of good architecture. Other initiatives include a £600,000 sustainable design programme which is currently under way and, last year, £144,000 was invested in an educational initiative for school children. A new body, Architecture and Design Scotland, will be established in early 2005 to replace and build upon the work of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland.

Children's Panels

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to provide accurate information about the quantity and quality of services prescribed by Children’s Hearings.

Euan Robson: Through a comprehensive programme of training, members of Children’s Panels are informed about services and programmes available to address the needs of children and young people. The Scottish Executive publishes annually youth justice mapping returns within which local authorities are asked to include information on the evaluation of their youth justice services. The mapping returns are available at: http://www.childrens-hearings.co.uk/youthjustice.asp

Civil Service

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, or plans to have, with Her Majesty’s Government about the dispersal of civil service jobs from London to Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is working closely with the Secretary of State for Scotland’s office to ensure that Scotland is well positioned to benefit from the outcome of the UK public sector relocation review.

  Officials in Scottish Development International (SDI) are increasing their resources to focus on the potential opportunities resulting from the review. SDI is in regular contact with the review team and has provided a wide range of background material to inform the review. SDI also intends to meet all relevant Whitehall departments and public bodies to understand, inform and support their relocation requirements.

Community Care

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what projections have been made for each local authority with regard to the provision of respite care weeks.

Mr Tom McCabe: No projections have been issued for individual authorities. The new funding for respite under the home care initiative is designed to achieve the equivalent of 22,000 extra weeks nationally. But that is not the only funding available to local authorities for the provision of respite care. Individual authorities will assess projected needs locally as part of their service planning and development. Authorities have been required to set out in a Local Outcome Agreement the outcomes to be delivered for their share of the home care initiative resources. We are currently reviewing draft agreements and information from these will not be available until next year.

Community Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage all local authorities to provide assistance for direct payments support organisations in their areas.

Mr Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3875. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Community Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address low uptake of direct payments in local authority areas.

Mr Tom McCabe: On 1 June local authorities were given a new duty to provide direct payments to eligible people who want them. Executive guidance to local authorities states that all eligible people should be made aware that direct payments are an option and should be given access to local support.

  The Executive has also set up Direct Payments Scotland to work closely with local authorities and local support organisations to help them set up direct payment schemes in their areas, including help with the establishment of local support services. This work involves increasing local awareness of direct payments and providing support and information, as well as identifying and addressing local training needs.

Community Safety

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when further capital and revenue resources will be made available to expand public CCTV systems in (a) Scotland and (b) Renfrewshire.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3557. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Community Safety

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to expand CCTV systems in (a) Scotland and (b) Renfrewshire.

Hugh Henry: The Community Safety Partnership Award Programme, introduced on 1 April 2002, makes £4 million per annum available to local authority-led Community Safety Partnerships to assist them in identifying and addressing local community safety priorities which can include capital and revenue costs of CCTV. Renfrewshire Community Safety Partnership were awarded £147,521 in 2002-03 and £145,433 in 2003-04. It is anticipated that a similar Community Safety Partnership Award will be achieved in 2004-05.

  As part of partnership agreement funding, an additional £1 million will be allocated in 2005-06 specifically for CCTV. Details on how this will be distributed have still to be finalised.

  Other Executive funding streams such as "Quality of Life" funding can also be used to fund local CCTV systems.

Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the organisation of pre-school and out-of-school care in order to provide a more effective "wraparound" service.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive publication School’s Out – A Framework for the Development of Out of School Care set out a number of recommendations for local authorities and other bodies to develop out of school care (OSC) provision. Recommendation 1 calls on local authorities to undertake a review of OSC provision within their areas and identify priorities to address any gaps in provision. The Executive has issued guidance to local authorities on meeting this recommendation, and they are expected to report their findings in spring 2004.

  The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, which came into force in April 2002, placed a new duty on authorities to secure a pre-school education place for all eligible children. The duty placed on local authorities allows them to secure pre-school education from voluntary or private partner providers within the sector. Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of these places.

  The Scottish Executive’s Childcare Strategy aims to provide affordable, accessible, good quality child care for children in all neighbourhoods. In order to implement the strategy at a local level, the Executive provides Childcare Strategy funding to local authorities. Local authorities, in conjunction with the local child care partnership are responsible for the allocation of funding to meet local child care needs, including "wraparound" provision within their areas.

  The Executive has also commissioned a nationwide research project to look at parental demand for child care. This project will explore the issues that affect vulnerable groups such as lone parents, ethnic minorities, student parents, young parents and parents of disabled children or children with additional special needs. The report on the findings of this research is also expected in spring 2004.

Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to support Eco-Schools after 2005.

Peter Peacock: The support for the Eco-Schools programme has been as part of the overall framework of improvement on the National Priorities in Education, introduced by the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000. The Executive remains committed to the importance of sustainable development, and will take account of that in the planned review of the national priorities in education for 2005 and beyond. As part of the review, we will consider the future role of various developments which aim to improve outcomes for school pupils, including the Eco-Schools programme.

Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support sustainable development in education.

Peter Peacock: Guidance to local authorities and schools sets out opportunities for teaching sustainable development at every level of the school curriculum.

  Under the arrangements to report against the National Priorities for Education, local authorities will submit information on "the number/percentage of primary and secondary schools within their area that are participating in the Eco Schools programme or a similar accredited environmental award".

  The Sustainable Secondary Schools Partnership (SSP) managed by Learning and Teaching Scotland and involving various environmental organisations are involved in a four-year initiative on education for sustainable development in secondary schools.

  We have also recently established the Education for Sustainable Development Liaison Group (ESDLG) to consider wider issues of education for sustainable development in schools and to make recommendations for a strategy for the future.

  We are also taking forward policies of promoting sustainable development in further and higher education through the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Councils.

Employment

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many manufacturing jobs have been created through inward investment in (a) Scotland, (b) Aberdeen, (c) Edinburgh, (d) Dundee, (e) Glasgow, (f) Inverness and (g) Stirling in each year since 1996

Mr Jim Wallace: Scottish Development International does not keep records of how many jobs are created by individual inward investors in a given year. The published figures reflect the number of jobs which a company plans to create or safeguard at the time its decision to invest in Scotland was made. The published figures refer only to projects in which Scottish Development International and its partners can claim to have had a significant involvement in ensuring that the project takes place in Scotland. The following figures relate to projects where a company has made a decision to invest or expand and where the main activity of the project is manufacturing. Not all jobs created by a manufacturing project are necessarily manufacturing jobs.

  (a) Scotland

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 7,673


 1997-98
 3,749


 1998-99
 4,380


 1999-2000
 5,901


 2000-01
 4,546


 2001-02
 1,235


 2002-03
 1,512



  (b) Aberdeen

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 0


 1997-98
 0


 1998-99
 0


 1999-2000
 0


 2000-01
 0


 2001-02
 30


 2002-03
 20



  (c) Edinburgh

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 25


 1997-98
 0


 1998-99
 59


 1999-2000
 1,677


 2000-01
 9


 2001-02
 242


 2002-03
 61



  (d) Dundee

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 11


 1997-98
 0


 1998-99
 30


 1999-2000
 167


 2000-01
 112


 2001-02
 0


 2002-03
 12



  (e) Glasgow

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 137


 1997-98
 73


 1998-99
 149


 1999-2000
 190


 2000-01
 418


 2001-02
 50


 2002-03
 81



  (f) Inverness

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 0


 1997-98
 0


 1998-99
 286


 1999-2000
 0


 2000-01
 0


 2001-02
 0


 2002-03
 431



  (g) Stirling

  

 Year
 Planned New 
  Jobs Associated with Manufacturing Projects


 1996-97
 0


 1997-98
 0


 1998-99
 0


 1999-2000
 0


 2000-01
 0


 2001-02
 0


 2002-03
 24

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Environment and Rural Affairs Department has been invited to participate in the UK working group on the equine industry and, if so, whether it will participate.

Ross Finnie: I am not aware of any such UK working group, but the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department is a member of the steering group for a British research project on the horse industry.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Environment and Rural Affairs Department has commissioned any research on the equine industry.

Ross Finnie: No.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the economic importance and potential of the equine industry.

Ross Finnie: No specific assessment has been made.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has of employment in the equine industry, broken down by sector.

Ross Finnie: None. This information is not held centrally.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make representations to Her Majesty’s Government to seek a review of the classification of the horse to the category of agricultural animal for tax purposes.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has no such plans.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has of the number of small businesses associated with the equine industry.

Ross Finnie: None. The information is not held centrally.

Europe

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has submitted any applications for the use in Scotland of tripartite contracts and agreements between the European Union, the member state and itself as a regional sub-member state administration in relation to areas in which the Executive has the primary responsibility for implementing European legislation and policy.

Mr Andy Kerr: No.

Ferry Services

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive which of the four conditions set out in the European Court of Justice’s judgement on the Altmark Trans bus company case regarding the classification of compensation as state aid apply to its tendering procedures for ferry services.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider ending its tendering programme for Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services in light of the European Court of Justice’s judgement on the Altmark Trans bus company case.

Nicol Stephen: The consequences of the Altmark case for ferry services are far from clear. The European Court of Justice’s decision in the Altmark case deals with the interaction between the treaty and the relevant state aid regulations for bus services. We have made initial contact with the European Commission and intend to make a more detailed submission after we have examined the full implications for tendering Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry services.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when research began within the Fisheries Research Service regarding causes of fluctuating cod stocks in the North Sea and what additional funds the Executive has made available for such research.

Ross Finnie: The Marine Laboratory Aberdeen, operating under different names, has been conducting research into North Sea cod stocks, their assessment and the role of climate since its inception in 1898. Its budget for this year is £23.76 million.

Further Education

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to Audit Scotland's report Scottish Further Education Funding– performance management of the further education sector in Scotland .

Mr Jim Wallace: We are pleased to note the improvements in the performance of the sector which this report has highlighted, and we are working with the funding council to ensure that the recommendations made in the report are implemented to continue these improvements. For example, the new joint corporate plan includes new key performance indicators linked to ministerial priorities, and Scottish Further Education Funding Council have recently published the first annual report on performance indicators in the further education sector, which includes student satisfaction measures.

Further Education

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to improve management and accountability in the further education sector.

Mr Jim Wallace: The outcome of the Review of Governance and Accountability in the Further Education Sector was announced in March 2003. The consultation process upon which the review was primarily based found general support for existing arrangements, but with scope for modernisation in specific areas. Ministers announced a programme of 14 measures aimed at enhancing standards of governance and accountability in the further education sector.

  Most of the measures can be implemented without the need for legislation (mainly through formal guidance by ministers and from the Association of Scottish Colleges).

  We will be consulting shortly on the proposals to amend, by order, the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 in order to reduce the maximum length of board membership, and to relax the current statutory restriction on the appointment of a local authority employee or elected representative to the Chair of a college board.

  We will consult separately on the other measures requiring primary legislation – to extend the remit of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to further education and higher education complaints, and to give the Scottish Further Education Funding Council the right to attend meetings of college boards.

  When announcing the outcome of the review, ministers indicated that they intend to assess the effectiveness of the new arrangements after two years.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of GPs have opted out of providing out of hours health services in all NHS board areas in the Highlands and Islands.

Malcolm Chisholm: Under existing arrangements general practitioners cannot opt-out of providing out of hours health services. GPs currently have responsibility for their patients 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

  Under the terms of the new general medical services contract, and subject to Parliament approving the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill, GPs will, from 1 April 2004, be able to apply to transfer responsibility for out of hours care to NHS boards. They will have a right to transfer after 31 December 2004 subject to an alternative provider being available.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why annual check-ups for over-75s have been postponed pending consultation on the new GP contract.

Malcolm Chisholm: Annual check-ups for over-75s have not been postponed pending consultation on the new GP contract.

  Currently, The terms of service for general practitioners require them each year to invite each of their patients aged 75 or over to participate in a consultation to assess whether the patient has any need for general medical services.

General Practitioners

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP training places there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The GP registrar training places for the last 10 years is as follows:

  

 Year
 Number


 1993
 303


 1994
 277


 1995
 282


 1996
 234


 1997
 238


 1998
 273


 1999
 284


 2000
 261


 2001
 272


 2002
 283



  The data is from the Information Services Division (ISD) of the Common Services Agency on the 30 September of each year.

Genetically Modified Crops

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ban the commercial growing of genetically modified (GM) beet and oilseed rape.

Allan Wilson: No decision will be taken on the possible commercialisation of GM beet and oilseed rape until the results of the farm scale trials and GM dialogue have been fully evaluated. The results from the trials have been forwarded to the statutory Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) for their advice on implications for the case-by-case assessment of these particular crops. The Executive expects to receive ACRE’s advice by the end of the year.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which drugs unlicensed for use by under-18s are prescribed to under-18s, giving the illnesses in respect of which they are prescribed.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available as prescription data available centrally are not patient-specific but relate to the numbers and cost of prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.

  A clinician may prescribe a medicine outside the terms of its licence where they believe it is justified and is a matter for clinical judgment, informed by specialist guidance produced by and available to the profession. A doctor may therefore prescribe a medicine for a child that is licensed only for adults.

Health

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to NHS boards and trusts regarding the use of incentives, such as "golden hellos", to attract and retain key staff to the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: Guidance to all NHS employers on all staffing issues is promulgated to the health service in a variety of ways by the Health Department as and when this information is required. NHS circulars, Health Department letters (HDLs), and health weekly bulletins are sent to all chief executives and directors of human resources pertaining to incentive packages available and instructions to finance colleagues in the recording of such incentives. Access can also be found to the entire department’s guidance for NHS employers on "Scotland’s Health on the Web" or "SHOW" website at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-297 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 June 2003, what the current timescale is for phasing out the use of vaccines containing mercury.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), responsible for the safety of all medicines available on the UK market, has advised that there is no set timescale for the removal of thiomersal (ethylmercury) from vaccines. Manufacturers are required to ensure that the elimination, reduction or substitution of thiomersal in vaccines does not affect the safety, quality and efficacy of the final product. The MHRA is continuing to work with the vaccine manufacturers to make every effort to remove or reduce the thoimersal component present in vaccines.

Health

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether partial-birth abortion is practiced in Scotland and, if so, how many have been performed by the NHS in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Methods of termination of pregnancy are monitored through the forms sent to the Chief Medical Officer by practitioners for every termination of pregnancy they perform. We are not aware of the procedure referred to as "partial-birth abortion" being used in Scotland.

Justice

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Time Out centre being piloted in Glasgow as an alternative to prison for women was opened; how many (a) residential and (b) day places are available in the centre; how much funding the Executive has allocated to Glasgow City Council to establish this service, and how long the service will run as a pilot before evaluation and possible roll out to other parts of the country.

Hugh Henry: The Time Out residential centre will open for clients early in December but non-residential elements of the scheme have been running since August. Once fully operational, the residential unit will have 14 beds and the support programme unit will have capacity to cater for 75 women a day.

  The annual running costs of the centre, which the Executive is meeting in full, are estimated at £1.2 million. The centre will operate as two-year pilot initially and will be evaluated throughout.

Justice

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the original estimated cost of the new IT programmes for the Scottish Courts Service proposed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; whether the service will secure best value in the use of funds for the IT programmes; when the new programmes will be introduced, and whether they will be run, initially, in conjunction with any other systems.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is introducing new IT programmes as part of its modernisation of casework processing systems: the "Future Office System" (FOS). The COPFS will shortly commence the roll-out of the first phase of FOS, which will enhance current casework processing systems and deal with summary business. The new system will run alongside the existing casework processing systems in use throughout the department and, in time, will be fully integrated with them, resulting in a full electronic casework processing system for all criminal cases.

  At September 2002 the cost of the development of the computer software for solemn work was estimated at £1 million. This figure has been adjusted in light of changes to overall requirements within COPFS and to meet the system changes arising from Lord Bonomy’s recommendations.

Justice

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service keeps, and will continue to keep, manual records of those cases where the 110-day rule, and any replacement of that rule, applies.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service holds all case information in a national case tracking database, which is the principal data record for all cases. In addition, selected manual records of solemn custody cases are kept, to assist in the management of those cases.

Language

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the proposal by Michl Ebner MEP, supported by the European Parliament, for the creation of a new European agency for linguistic diversity and language learning; whether it will make representations for the new agency to be located in Scotland, given the importance of linguistic diversity in Scottish culture, and, if so, what plans it has to promote the case for location of the agency in Scotland.

Peter Peacock: This proposal is one of two explicit recommendations made by the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport in its report of 14 July 2003 to the European Commission.

  It is now for the Commission to consider its response to these recommendations.

  We will work closely with the UK Government on these matters as and when they are taken forward.

Local Government

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports COSLA guidance issued to local authorities in respect of party representation on council committees.

Tavish Scott: The issue of party representation on council committees is an internal matter for councils. It is for individual councils to decide whether to adopt the guidance issued by COSLA.

Local Government

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering introducing legislation in respect of party representation on council committees as part of its consultation on the draft Local Governance (Scotland) Bill.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has no plans to do so.

Local Government

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce regulation of membership of council committees on a similar basis to England and Wales where proportionality is a requirement.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has no plans to do so.

Local Government Elections

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that local government elections are not held on the same day as Scottish Parliament elections to avoid the possible complication of two differing systems of election being used on the same day.

Tavish Scott: The next local government elections are due to take place on the same day as the next election to the Scottish Parliament. Issues relating to the practical implementation of the single transferable vote system for local government elections are currently being considered by an independent working group. That group will present its findings and recommendations to ministers by autumn 2004.

Maternity Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1912 by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 October 2003, what issues it expects to be covered in the report to ministers; who will be responsible for drawing up the report, and what information it has on the timescales, including any key milestones, to which NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHS Greater Glasgow are working in preparing the report.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have requested a detailed report on patient flows for the maternity services based in Paisley and Glasgow. This work is to be taken forward alongside the Glasgow review of maternity services and I have requested the report by April 2004.

  It is up to NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHS Greater Glasgow to decide the details of how they take this work forward.

Medical Training

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical students (a) began training, (b) completed their studies and (c) entered the medical profession in each of the last two academic years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information on entrants to first degrees and medical graduates, for the latest two years for which information is available, is shown in the table.

  Students from St Andrews are included in the column for entrants, but not that for graduates. Students entering medicine at St Andrews spend three years studying the scientific foundation of medicine and its application to clinical problems. They then graduate with a BSc General Degree in Medical Science before continuing a three-year clinical medical course at Manchester University Medical School, where they gain their medical degree.

  First Degree Medical Entrants and Graduates at Scottish Higher Education Institutes

  

 
 Entrants
 Graduates


 2000-01
 9551
 810


 2001-02
 9572
 936



  Source: HESA.

  1. Of which 105 are entrants to St Andrews.

  2. Of which 103 are entrants to St Andrews.

  689 medical graduates joined NHS Scotland for their Pre-Registration House Officer year in 2001, and 801 in 2002. (Source: NHS Education Scotland)

NHS Equipment

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many linear accelerators are (a) needed to meet patient demands and (b) currently in operation, (i) in total and (ii) in each NHS board area.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many linear accelerators there are per million of the population.

Malcolm Chisholm: (a) The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) recommends that there should be five linear accelerators per million population. Scotland’s current total is equivalent to 3.9 per million population.

  (b) Radiotherapy is a highly specialised form of cancer treatment which is available only in cancer centres. Linear accelerators are sited in each of Scotland’s five cancer centres in Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

  There are currently 20 linear accelerators, as follows:

  

 Health Board Area
 No. of Linear 
  Accelerators


 Highland 
 1


 Grampian 
 2


 Tayside 
 2


 Lothian 
 5


 Greater Glasgow 
 10


 Total
 20



  A £33 million programme of modernisation and enhancement of radiotherapy equipment is currently under way across Scotland funded by the Scottish Executive. By the time of completion of the next planned (4th) wave, Scotland will have 24 linear accelerators, equating to 4.8 per million population.

NHS Equipment

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many days linear accelerators were not in use due to (a) maintenance, (b) breakdown and (c) lack of staff to operate them in each of the last five years, in each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Equipment

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiotherapists are required to ensure that the linear accelerators are used to their full capacity.

Malcolm Chisholm: To provide safe and effective radiotherapy the operation of linear accelerators requires a multidisciplinary team including clinical oncologists, therapy radiographers and physicists. Such teams are in place in all five cancer centres in Scotland.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staffing establishment of NHS 24 is adequate.

Malcolm Chisholm: The staffing establishment of NHS 24 is considered to be adequate at the current stage of its development. By December 2003 NHS 24 will be providing a service to 50% of the population of Scotland. To meet full roll-out of the service by December 2004, further recruitment will be necessary and will continue during 2004.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of unfilled vacancies has been in each month since the establishment of NHS 24, broken down by unit.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 has no vacancies it has been unable to fill.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has about staff turnover at NHS 24.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 staff turnover figures currently compare favourably with commercial contact centres and the public sector average. We are satisfied that staff retention strategies are being developed and turnover in all disciplines within NHS 24 is being monitored.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of employment of NHS 24 nurses has been since its inception.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 nurses are employed in three centres in the North, West and East of Scotland. Recruitment has been phased to match the launch of the centres and service roll out across the country.

  North (launch date May 2002) – 460.14 days

  West (launch date November 2002) – 387.28 days

  East (launch date September 2003) – 190.25 days.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS 24 staff have left their jobs since its inception, expressed also as a proportion of the overall staffing complement.

Malcolm Chisholm: From July 2001, 102 staff from a total current complement of 816 have left NHS 24. This represents an annual average turnover equates of 10.96%, which compares favourably to the 13.3% average for public sector organisations of less than 1,000 employees. NHS 24 continues to actively monitor turnover, particularly for call-handler staff.

NHS Staff

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many doctors and nurses are currently excluded from work through suspension in each NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been to each NHS board as a result of the absence of any doctors and nurses excluded from work through suspension in (a) 2002-03 and (b) 2003-04 to date.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to investigate the reasons behind Did Not Attend (DNA) rates in each NHS board area in light of DNA rates costing approximately £20 million, as identified in the Audit Scotland report,  Outpatient Count – Results of a census on outpatient activity .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Audit Scotland Report Outpatient Count – Results of a census on outpatient activity recommends that NHS trusts should examine the causes of DNA rates in their respective clinics and take action to reduce these.

  The Executive believes that the best way to reduce the number of patients who fail to attend NHS appointments is through more effective and timely communications with patients and more streamlined access to services. The White Paper Partnership for Care sets out plans for a programme of service redesign that will support these objectives. On 13 June 2003, I launched the out-patient action plan, which includes a commitment to piloting new arrangements for booking out-patient appointments. Pilot sites will be launched this month and their impact on DNA rates monitored.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to monitor reasons behind cancellations of out-patient clinics, especially those cancellations giving less than 24 hours notice, in light of the Audit Scotland report,  Outpatient Count – Results of a census on outpatient activity .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Audit Scotland Report Outpatient Count – Results of a census on outpatient activity recommends that NHS trusts should monitor the reasons for cancelled clinics and take appropriate action.

  The White Paper Partnership for Care has already set out plans for a programme of service redesign that will support these actions. In addition, on 13 June 2003 I launched the out-patient action plan, which requires NHS trusts and boards to appoint an out-patient manager to help improve demand and capacity planning. Clinic cancellations should be better monitored by NHS trusts and boards and reductions achieved through implementation of the action plan.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to set up a national review of out-patient management with a view to the creation of a minimum data set capable of supporting national strategic and operational management needs, as recommended in the Audit Scotland report, Outpatients Count .

Malcolm Chisholm: The White Paper Partnership for Care  includes a commitment to improve the collection of information to more accurately reflect NHSScotland out-patient activity, which will better support strategic and operational management needs.

  ISD Scotland are currently taking this commitment forward through their data development programme, and are working with NHSScotland to review data requirements for managing out-patients.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it will introduce to assist NHS trusts to adequately review follow-up arrangements for out-patient appointments and discharge policies, as referred to in the Audit Scotland report, Outpatients Count .

Malcolm Chisholm: The White Paper Partnership for Care  sets out plans for a programme of service redesign to help ensure more streamlined access to services and more effective and timely communications with patients.

  The Centre for Change and Innovation is driving the implementation of the Outpatient Action Plan, which I launched on 13 June 2003. The plan includes a requirement for NHS boards and trusts to review follow-up and discharge policies, which should help reduce any unnecessary visits to specialist clinics. In addition, the centre will facilitate the spread of good practice and the promotion of knowledge transfer through a series of good practice events, to help improve out-patient services across NHSScotland.

National Health Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the heart team of the Golden Jubilee Hospital is deployed to work elsewhere in the NHS at times when the team is not working to capacity at that hospital.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Cardiac Surgeon at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital undertakes four theatre sessions per week. During the remainder of the week he undertakes out-patient clinics and other aspects of cardiac unit work. When additional cardiac theatre sessions are required by NHSScotland, visiting consultants are contracted.

  Most other members of the cardiac team, such as theatre nurses, carry out work in other specialties within the hospital, when the cardiac unit is not working to full capacity.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reduce the expenditure of any non-departmental public body and, if so, which expenditure it plans to reduce.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive’s spending plans for 2003-06 were set out in the Draft Budget 2004-05 which was published on 11 September 2003.

Nursing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses there are who assist anaesthetists administering general anaesthetic for the purposes of treating children admitted to hospital for tooth extractions at each hospital in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Pensions

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6241 by Mr Jim Wallace on 19 April 2000, whether the terms of the commencement order and regulations laid before the Parliament on 19 April 2000 in respect of the devolved aspects of the treatment of pensions on divorce provided for in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 have the effect that sheriffs, when determining divorce settlements, may only consider valuations of pension assets from fund trustees, potentially underestimating the value of a pension and awarding a spouse less than half the actual value; if so, what its position is on this situation; whether it intends to address the situation speedily in order to ensure fair pension sharing, and, if so, whether it will consider retrospective application of any amendment to the commencement order and regulations to restore funds to divorcees from April 2000.

Cathy Jamieson: The scheme for calculating and verifying the value of pension benefits for the purposes of matrimonial property on divorce is set down in the Divorce etc (Pensions) (Scotland) Regulations 2000. These regulations do not restrict sheriffs to consider only those actuarial valuations provided by pension fund trustees.

  I intend to write to the Sheriffs’ Association inviting their views on whether there are difficulties in the way in which the regulations are operating, and I will consider the matter further in light of the response.

Police

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive where forensic services are located in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: Police forensic science services in Scotland are based at four laboratories in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Police

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been any issues concerning delays in provision of forensic services.

Cathy Jamieson: Increasing demand for police forensic science services led to some delays during 2002. Forces have taken steps to address these problems and to improve service delivery wherever possible.

Police

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any immediate plans to review resources available to forensic services.

Cathy Jamieson: The provision of police forensic science services in Scotland is currently under review as part of the wider review of common police services. A project team led by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is examining the potential costs and benefits of rationalisation, including bringing the existing laboratories under a single management structure. The project team is expected to complete its report recommending a future structure for police forensic science services by the end of 2003.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3026 by Cathy Jamieson on 13 October 2003, whether information concerning the cost of fuel for vehicles for each police force is held centrally as was provided in the answer to question S1W-6537 by Mr Jim Wallace and, if so, what this cost was to each police force in each year since 1999-2000.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on expenditure by forces at this level of detail is not held centrally but should be available, on request, from each police force. A separate exercise was undertaken in May 2000 to seek from forces the information given in the answer to question S1W-6537.

Pollution

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average air quality levels were in (a) Scotland and (b) the City of Edinburgh Council area in each year from 1985 to 1995.

Allan Wilson: The information is provided in the following three tables. The first two tables give the average number of days per site when air pollution levels were moderate or higher, in each year for which data are available, using sites which form part of the UK monitoring network.

  The third table presents data from the Edinburgh black smoke/sulphur dioxide monitoring site which was operational from 1966 to 1996.

  Local authorities also undertake air quality monitoring, but the relevant data from the City of Edinburgh Council area are not held centrally.

  Scotland1

  

 
 1987
 1988
 1989
 1990
 1991
 1992
 1993
 1994
 1995


 Rural network (3 sites)
 17.3
 25.7
 27
 35
 28.7
 32.3
 15.3
 32.7
 23.7


 Urban network (Edinburgh site 
  only)
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 20
 18
 29



  Edinburgh

  

 
 19922
 1993
 1994
 1995


 Carbon monoxide
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Nitrogen dioxide
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Ozone
 0
 0
 4
 6


 Particles
 6
 4
 3
 18


 Sulphur dioxide
 2
 16
 12
 10


 Total
 8
 20
 193
 344



  Notes:

  1. Figures for Scotland are the total number of days for all pollutants monitored at each site.

  2. The Edinburgh site only became operational in October 1992 and hence there is no annual figure for that year in the first, Scotland, table.

  3,4. Total days are higher for Edinburgh than for Scotland in 1994 and 1995. Where more than one individual pollutant is moderate or higher on a given day it is counted as a single day for the Scotland total.

  

 
 1985
 1986
 1987
 1988
 1989
 1990
 1991
 1992
 1993
 1994
 1995


 Black smoke
 11.81
 6.63
 10.05
 6.70
 9.63
 9.73
 14.25
 11.44
 9.29
 8.05
 7.66


 Sulphur dioxide
 43.65
 36.20
 51.47
 40.00
 37.66
 26.83
 34.90
 37.04
 40.54
 29.72
 32.31



  (Figures are annual means, expressed in g m3)

Prison Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what key performance indicators are set for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as a whole and how the SPS has performed against such indicators.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is published on page 9 of the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts, available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 28640) and on SPS’s website.

Prison Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how performance indicators for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) are set.

Cathy Jamieson: Ministers set SPS targets on a range of indicators. These are designed to indicate how efficiently and effectively SPS is delivering its business. Targets are reviewed periodically. Those currently set cover the period up to 2004-05.

Prison Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which key performance indicators for the Scottish Prison Service are outcome-based.

Cathy Jamieson: Of the seven ministerial key performance indicators set for 2003-04, Five are outcome-based:

  escapes;

  serious assaults;

  available prison places with access to night sanitation;

  percentage testing positive in Mandatory Drug Testing procedures, and

  average annual cost per prisoner place.

Prison Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the key performance indicators for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in order reflect the need to focus on rehabilitation as well as incarceration and recognise the value of qualitative measures over quantitative measures.

Cathy Jamieson: Three of the seven key performance indicators already focus on whole or part of rehabilitation in line with the challenge set for SPS to protect the public by reducing re-offending. The key performance indicators are quantitative, but SPS recognises the value of qualitative data such as that collected through its prisoner survey.

Prison Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it evaluates rehabilitation programmes delivered by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), in particular the cognitive skills programme, and the impact of such programmes on re-offending rates.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Prison Service is currently evaluating the impact of accredited offending behaviour programmes, including the cognitive skills programme, using a range of measures. These include changes in attitudinal and behavioural indices; changes in attitudinal and behavioural proxy measures; prisoner interviews; and the analysis of "return to custody" and reconviction data on the best available proxies for re-offending rates.

Regulation of Care

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2517 by Mr Tom McCabe on 24 September 2003, how many care homes residents are in receipt of the personal expense allowance (PEA) in each local authority area.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally in the exact form requested. However the number of care home residents supported wholly or mainly by local authorities as at March 2002, plus those supported by the Department for Work and Pensions under the preserved right rate of Income Support, provides the best estimate of those who would have retained at least the personal expenses allowance at that time. These figures are shown in the table:

  Financial Support of Residents in Care Homes1 for Older People, 2002

  

 Local Authority Area 
  Where Care Home is Situated
 Number 
  of Residents Supported by Local Authority2 or 
  DWP


 Aberdeen City
 1,085 


 Aberdeenshire
 1,210


 Angus
 627


 Argyll and Bute
 497


 Clackmannanshire
 184


 Dumfries and Galloway
 774


 Dundee City
 766


 East Ayrshire
 688


 East Dunbartonshire
 328


 East Lothian
 510


 East Renfrewshire
 427


 Edinburgh, City of
 1,719


 Eilean Siar
 196


 Falkirk
 605


 Fife
 1,590


 Glasgow City
 3,243


 Highland
 1,329


 Inverclyde
 395


 Midlothian
 427


 Moray
 316


 North Ayrshire
 796


 North Lanarkshire
 1,387


 Orkney Islands
 77


 Perth and Kinross
 827


 Renfrewshire
 851


 Scottish Borders
 671


 Shetland Islands
 90


 South Ayrshire
 576


 South Lanarkshire
 1,704


 Stirling
 490


 West Dunbartonshire
 446


 West Lothian
 683


 Scotland
 25,514



  Sources: Residential Care Homes Census - SEHD: Community Care Statistics.

  Nursing Homes Census – ISD: National Health Service for Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Care homes includes former residential care homes and nursing homes.

  2. Includes residents who were supported wholly or mainly by local authority or DWP under the preserved right rate of income support.

  3. The figures relate to long stay residents only.

Road Accidents

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents there were on Renfrewshire roads in each of the last five years and how many of these required the assistance of a fire service road rescue unit.

Nicol Stephen: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover "damage only" accidents.

  Information on the involvement of fire service road rescue units in road accidents is held locally by fire brigades and relates to both injury and damage only accidents.

  The following table gives the number of road traffic injury accidents in Renfrewshire in the years 1998 to 2002 inclusive and the number of road traffic accidents that required the assistance of a fire service road rescue unit on roads in Renfrewshire in the years 1999 to 2002 inclusive. It has not been possible to provide the figure for 1998 within the timeframe for this question.

  It should be noted that the statistics given in the table for injury road accidents are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to the statistical information, for use at a local level, about the location of each accident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

  

 Year
 Injury Road 
  Accidents
 Road Accidents 
  Involving Fire Service Road Rescue Unit


 1998
 529
 Not available


 1999
 536
 85


 2000
 478
 72


 2001
 465
 48


 2002
 479
 82

Schools

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to continue to make resources available to local authorities through the schools fund beyond 2005-06.

Peter Peacock: Local authorities’ shares of the schools fund are confirmed up to 2005-06. However, we recognise that improving and maintaining school buildings is a long-term issue and have indicated that we intend that substantial resources will continue to be available over the long term for work on the school estate.

Schools

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be open to local authorities to direct resources from their schools fund allocations towards supporting prudential borrowing, where such borrowing relates to the school estate.

Peter Peacock: It is not open to local authorities to use schools fund resources to support the cost of direct council borrowing for capital investment.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its consent is required before a local authority can sanction the closure of a state-funded denominational school.

Peter Peacock: Ministerial consent for the closure of such denominational schools is required only in certain circumstances.

  Schedule 2 to the Education (Publication and Consultation Etc)(Scotland) Regulations 1981, which applies to non-denominational and denominational schools alike, covers circumstances where the school concerned is more than 80% full, or where the alternative school is five or more miles distant in the case of a primary school and 10 or more miles distant in the case of a secondary school from the school proposed for closure.

  Sections 22C and 22D of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 cover circumstances where pupils would no longer be able to attend a school of the denomination concerned; or where, following representations from the church or denominational body concerned, ministers consider that the proposal would result in a significant deterioration in the provision, distribution or availability of school education in denominational schools compared with other public schools.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many state-funded denominational schools have been closed by local authorities in each of the last five years.

Peter Peacock: The number of such denominational schools closed in each of the past five calendar years is shown in the table. The information is derived from the Scottish Executive Education Department’s register of schools which is updated annually.

  

 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002


 1
 nil
 2
 1
 5

Schools

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated in its forward plans for the replacement of information and communication technology within schools.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is currently providing local authorities with support of £20 million annually through the National Priorities Action Fund which may be used to maintain and refresh information and communications technology (ICT) facilities in schools. This will continue until 2005-06, with the level of subsequent funding subject to the next spending review. In addition, local authorities allocate significant resources to ICT from their own education budgets.

Schools

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Care Commission applies the same standards to schools as it does to organisations using school premises.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Care Commission does not regulate schools. It is responsible for the regulation of certain care services including day care of children services and some school care accommodation services. Both public and independent sector services are regulated taking account of the relevant National Care Standards, which are prepared and published by Scottish ministers.

  Day care of children services such as nurseries and playgroups can be provided in school premises. The appropriate National Care Standards for all these services are "early education and childcare up to the age of 16".

  The Care Commission currently regulates the residential care aspect of independent residential special schools, grant-aided residential special schools, education authority residential special schools (registered prior to April 2002) and independent schools with boarding provision voluntarily registered prior to April 2002 under section 34 of the children (Scotland) Act 1995. The National Care Standards for "school care accommodation services" are applied to these services.

Schools

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which new community schools have been developed so far and how many pupils and teachers have been allocated to each school.

Peter Peacock: Under the pilot programme, some 430 schools across all local authority areas have adopted the integrated (formerly new) community school approach. We understand that, since the start of the roll out programme in April 2002, the number of schools involved has risen to more than 1000. Adoption of the integrated community school approach does not necessarily impact on pupil or teacher numbers in the schools involved.

Schools

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the optimum size is of a new community school.

Peter Peacock: There is no optimum size of school for adoption of the integrated (formerly new) community school approach. All schools are expected to become integrated community schools by 2007. Experience over the pilot programme and the first year of the roll out programme indicates that the integrated community school approach can be adopted successfully in individual schools or in cluster of schools.

Science

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on when Her Majesty's Government's review of its policies on science and discovery centres will be concluded and how this review might impact on Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: I understand that Her Majesty’s Government is planning to conclude its review of English science centres by the end of this year. The Scottish Executive will, of course, consider the implications for Scotland of any decisions that follow from this.

Science

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is planned for Scotland's science and discovery centre network following the closure of the Big Idea.

Mr Jim Wallace: Ministers have agreed to commission a study to consider options for the possible future support of science centres in Scotland. Ministers will consider the findings of the study in the New Year. In the meantime, Dynamic Earth has accepted an offer of grant from the Scottish Executive of £500,000 in order to permit its continued operation. The Executive is also working with the Millennium Commission to ensure that the assets at the Big Idea are retained for possible future use.

Science

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the value of the science centre network to delivering the (a) educational, (b) lifelong learning, (c) economic and (d) tourism aspects of the Executive’s agenda.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive recognises that science centres are valuable assets in helping to create a more enterprising, pro-science country. The direct benefits of science centres are, however, very difficult to measure objectively. A study conducted in November 2002 by HM Inspectors of Education concluded that, overall, the service provided by the centres was greatly valued by schools, especially primary schools; but it also concluded that there was variation in the quality of the service and that there was for scope for improvement in many areas. Other possible impacts of science centres have not been assessed systematically.

Scottish Opera

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase funding to Scottish Opera.

Mr Frank McAveety: The budget allocation for Scottish Opera for 2003-06 has been set. Scottish Opera must operate within the level of resource that has been identified as being available to it.

Slaughterhouses

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued any regulations or guidance that prevent an individual from buying offal from a slaughterhouse for the purpose of feeding a dog.

Ross Finnie: The statutory controls on the treatment of animal by-products were updated with effect from 1 October, but the legal requirements with regard to the sale of offal have not changed. Provided statutory requirements to safeguard public and animal health are observed such material can continue to be supplied as petfood.

Social Work

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what shortfall of qualified social workers there is in each local authority area.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Statistical Bulletin published in July 2003, showed qualified social work vacancies of 564 on 7 October 2002. Further information is available in Statistical Bulletin SWK/S/2003/25 – Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2002 at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00273-00.asp.

  A telephone snapshot taken by the Social Work Services Inspectorate on 30 June 2003 showed a total vacancy figure of 624 broken down as follows:

  

 Aberdeen City
 28.7


 Aberdeenshire
 27.1


 Angus 
 16.8


 Argyll and Bute
 14


 Clackmannanshire
 6


 Dumfries and Galloway
 21


 Dundee City
 18


 East Ayrshire
 15


 East Lothian
 7


 East Dunbartonshire
 14


 East Renfrewshire
 11.5


 Edinburgh City
 34.05


 Falkirk
 18.3


 Fife
 34


 Glasgow
 115.96


 Highland
 40.5


 Inverclyde
 16


 Midlothian
 15


 Moray
 1


 North Ayrshire
 15.5


 North Lanarkshire
 15.1


 Orkney Islands
 1


 Perth and Kinross
 5.5


 Renfrewshire
 19.68


 Scottish Borders
 9


 Shetland
 1


 South Ayrshire
 6


 South Lanarkshire
 39.63


 Stirling
 10.5


 West Dunbartonshire
 21.42


 West Lothian
 23.7


 Western Isles
 2

Speech and Language Therapy

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speech and language therapists there are in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of people registered as requiring such services.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the number of speech and language therapists within each NHS board area is contained in the following table, which shows whole time equivalent (WTE) and headcount of speech and language therapists and the population by NHS board area.

  Rates of speech and language therapists per 100,000 population are also given. These rates should be treated with caution. The variability in rates between health boards can be partly explained by the small number of therapists each rate is based on. Also, these rates do not take account of cross-border flows between health boards: for example, patients resident in one health board area may receive their speech and language therapy within another.

  Information showing the ratio of speech and language therapists to the number of people registered as requiring such services is not held centrally.

  Speech and Language Therapists by NHS Board

  Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent: at 30 September 2002

  Population estimate at 30 June 2002

  


 Speech 
  and Language Therapists

 Rate 
  per 100,000 of Population


 NHS Board
 Headcount
 WTE
 Population
 Headcount
 WTE


 Argyll and Clyde
 71
 61.4
 418,750 
  
 16.96
 14.67


 Ayrshire and Arran
 60
 49.0
 367,060 
  
 16.35
 13.35


 Borders
 22
 20.0
 107,400 
  
 20.48
 18.58


 Dumfries and Galloway
 26
 22.8
 147,310 
  
 17.65
 15.48


 Fife
 52
 41.1
 350,620 
  
 14.83
 11.72


 Forth Valley
 52
 40.2
 279,370 
  
 18.61
 14.40


 Grampian
 108
 84.1
 523,290 
  
 20.64
 16.07


 Greater Glasgow
 168
 143.8
 866,080 
  
 19.40
 16.61


 Highland
 33
 28.0
 208,140 
  
 15.85
 13.46


 Lanarkshire
 112
 99.4
 552,910 
  
 20.26
 17.97


 Lothian
 151
 118.8
 779,100 
  
 19.38
 15.25


 Orkney
 4
 2.7
 19,210 
  
 20.82
 13.95


 Shetland
 3
 2.7
 21,940 
  
 13.67
 12.31


 Tayside
 66
 57.2
 387,420 
  
 17.04
 14.77


 Western Isles
 7
 7.0
 26,200 
  
 26.72
 26.72


 Scotland
 935
 778.2
 5,054,800 
  
 18.50
 15.40



  Sources: National Manpower Statistics from payroll, ISD Scotland. GRO mid-year population estimates.

Speech and Language Therapy

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any shortage of speech and language therapists and, if so, what steps are being taken to address the situation.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on vacancies and staff establishments is reported annually by NHS trusts. These figures are shown in the following table.

  Speech and Language Therapists Vacancies by NHS Board

  Whole Time Equivalent: at 31 March 2003

  

 NHS Board
 Establishment
 Vacancies
 Vacancies 
  as % of Establishment


 Argyll and Clyde
  
  79.9
  
  6.0
 7.5%


 Ayrshire and Arran
  
  48.3
  
  1.5
 3.1%


 Borders
  
  17.4
 -
 -


 Dumfries and Galloway
  
  21.0
  
  2.0
 9.5%


 Fife
  
  45.6
  
  2.0
 4.4%


 Forth Valley
  
  46.4
 -
 -


 Grampian
  
  92.1
  
  9.2
 10.0%


 Greater Glasgow
  
  135.2
  
  2.6
 1.9%


 Highland
  
  35.2
  
  7.0
 19.9%


 Lanarkshire
  
  107.9
  
  9.0
 8.3%


 Lothian
  
  121.5
  
  7.4
 6.1%


 Orkney
  
  2.7
 -
 -


 Shetland Health 
  Board
  
  2.7
 -
 -


 Tayside
 72.8
 9.0
 12.4%


 Western Isles
 8.5
 -
 -


 Scotland
 837.1
 55.7
 6.7%



  Source: ISD(M)36, ISD Scotland.

  The Executive is committed to increasing overall numbers of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), including speech and language therapists, by 1,500. Working groups established as part of the AHP strategy Future Directions are already looking at initiatives to improve recruitment and retention and clinical placements. A range of professional development and leadership opportunities is being developed to retain the existing workforce. In addition, £1 million has been made available for additional student places in priority areas including speech and language therapy, funding is available to support a "return to practice" initiative and alternative routes to state registration are currently being explored.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients discharged from psychiatric units have committed suicide within one month of release in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows the amount of patients discharged from psychiatric units who have committed suicide within one month of release, over the last five years:

  

 Year
 General Scottish 
  Suicides
 Inquiry Scottish 
  Suicides
 Community Scottish 
  Suicides
 Died Within 
  1 Month of Discharge


 1997
 686
 161
 149
 14


 1998
 875
 202
 175
 31


 1999
 873
 215
 190
 27


 2000
 878
 202
 176
 19


 2001
 887
 214
 200
 22


 2002
 899
 164
 150
 17



  Source: General Register Office (Scotland). Compiled by the National Confidential Inquiry Into Suicide and Homicide By People With Mental Illness, (University of Manchester).

  Notes:

  "Inquiry suicides" are those of patients who died within 12 months of contact with mental health services. "Community Suicides" are those of patients who were not in-patients at time of death. The figures for general Scottish suicides include those for "sequelae" or "late effect" and include those under 15 years of age. The remaining figures do not include those for "sequelae" or "late effect" or those under 15 years of age.

  It is for this reason that the Scottish Executive identified people with mental health problems, in particular those in contact with mental health services as a priority group for action, as part of the Choose Life national strategy to prevent suicide in Scotland, which I launched in December 2002.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of suicide has been amongst drug and alcohol abusers in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the suicide rate in Scotland is double that of England and Wales and whether any research has been commissioned to investigate the factors involved.

Malcolm Chisholm: There is no single known reason to explain why suicide rates in Scotland are higher than those in England and Wales. However, under the work of the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being, plans are in hand to co-ordinate the available evidence relating to suicide in Scotland and elsewhere. New research will then be commissioned to cover gaps in information and will focus on factors influencing prevalence.

Teachers

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects changes in the numbers of promoted posts in teaching as a result of the McCrone agreement and, if so, how many posts will be involved and when the changes in numbers will be implemented.

Peter Peacock: The agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century does not prescribe levels of staffing. Within the framework provided by the agreement, it is for local authorities to decide what levels of staffing best suits their local needs.

Teachers

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to monitor any increase in the responsibility of non-promoted teaching posts for course and curricular development and whether it will publish the results of such monitoring.

Peter Peacock: Development of the school curriculum forms part of all teachers’ duties, as outlined in Annex B of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century . It is for individual headteachers to determine and allocate specific duties at local level, in consultation with staff.

Teachers

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has made available for early retirement and the winding-down scheme for teachers as part of the McCrone agreement and whether such funding provision is consistent with its position on retirement ages in the public sector.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has agreed to fund the implementation of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century in full. However, it is for local authorities to determine how they spend their allocated funding and how they administer early retirement and winding down schemes.

  Both teacher and employer representatives will be fully involved in any discussion on how any future changes to the retirement age for public sector workers will affect the operation of winding down and early retirement schemes. A principal aim of any new pension scheme will be to introduce a greater degree of flexibility, particularly in the transition from work to retirement, and making the ‘’winding down’’ provisions more widely available, giving teachers increased scope to vary their working patterns when nearing retirement.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been received by area tourist boards from (a) European regional development funding and (b) matched funding, in each year since 1997.

Mr Frank McAveety: This information is not held centrally.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1249 by Nicol Stephen on 25 June 2003, what funding will be available for international maritime routes from the (a) freight facilities, (b) track access and (c) sea access grant; how much funding is allocated, and who is eligible for such funding.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive budget for Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) is £14.4 million in 2003-04, £14.6 million in 2004-05 and £15.4 million in 2005-06. This budget is available for rail, inland waterway and short sea shipping routes.

  Track access grant is limited to funding rail track access charges, although eligible flows can include rail journeys to and from ports. The Executive’s budget is currently £1 million per annum.

  The proposed water freight grant scheme for revenue support for new shipping routes is currently being discussed with the European Commission with a view to implementing the scheme in 2004-05. Funding of the scheme will initially be provided from the FFG budget.

  Any company within the European Union and European Economic Area is eligible to apply for these grants, provided the proposal removes lorry journeys from Scotland’s roads.

Weeds Act 1959

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in Scotland to comply with the Weeds Act 1959 regarding the spreading of injurious weeds, specifically with regard to ragwort.

Ross Finnie: The Weeds Act 1959 places responsibility for control of certain weeds, including ragwort, on the occupier of the land. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department investigates all written complaints received about the presence of injurious weeds, including ragwort, on land, and where necessary will advise the occupier to carry out control measures to prevent the weeds from spreading. The act also empowers ministers to serve notice requiring the occupier to take action to prevent weeds from spreading. Failure to take action following service of a notice is a criminal offence under the act.

Weeds Act 1959

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice and support is being given to occupiers of land in order to deal with the spread of ragwort as an injurious weed, as referred to in the Weeds Act 1959.

Ross Finnie: The Weeds Act 1959 places responsibility for control of certain weeds, including ragwort, on the occupier of the land. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department investigates all written complaints received about the presence of injurious weeds, including ragwort, on land, and where necessary will advise the occupier to carry out control measures to prevent the weeds from spreading.

  SEERAD recently revised its guidance leaflet on the control of injurious weeds which has been prepared for the benefit of occupiers of land and other persons who may be affected by the spread of weeds, particularly the injurious species specified in the Weeds Act 1959. Copies of the leaflet are available from all SEERAD area offices.